Get the Right Amount of Attention
Welcome to Lalu’s Corner, a monthly column exploring the intersection of music, brand, and cultural strategy. This piece looks at how artists navigate the modern landscape of visibility and audience building.
For much of music history, silence was the default setting. Artists like Frank Ocean, Alex G, and Mk.gee have carved out a reputation as “musician’s musicians,” thriving through mystique. They give minimal interviews and shun constant visibility, suggesting that distance creates space for the work itself. This restraint was often enforced by the infrastructure of the time. Think of the era of Prince and Daft Punk, where limited media outlets meant that mystique was a byproduct of controlled access. They chose what the public saw, and the systems largely facilitated that withholding.
But the infrastructure of music has flipped. The era of enforced restraint ended when artists gained direct access to their audience through digital channels. The rise of platforms like YouTube and streaming services fundamentally changed the rules. Where artists once had to rely on gatekeepers to decide who was seen, they now have the power to reach people directly, in any volume they choose. This shift allowed songs like Sombr’s “Back to Friends” to build momentum on platforms like TikTok long before traditional metrics caught up.
Today, the old measure of success—restraint—is no longer the primary strategy. The real skill has evolved into knowing which room you are actually in. The amount of content an artist posts is no longer about withholding information; it’s about understanding the specific relationship they have forged with their listeners. This dynamic is highly personalized. For example, Charli XCX thrives on a sense of shared intimacy, where the audience feels like they are inside a group chat. For other artists, like Phoebe Bridgers, silence is not a gap, but a profound statement of sincerity, a necessary element of the art.
This segmentation highlights a crucial insight: the relationship with the audience defines the strategy. For some, building the relationship is about chaos and confession; for others, it’s about deep, carefully curated sincerity. There is no single right amount to post because the right amount depends entirely on the community you are engaging with.
For an unknown artist, trying different platforms and following trends isn’t a failure of restraint. It is often the necessary exploration required to discover who is listening. The challenge isn’t how much to share, but figuring out which community you are actually in.
The future of collective experience is also evolving. K-pop’s biggest labels are now working together to build massive events and festivals, creating finite places and times that audiences can orient themselves around. These collective events aim to create a shared, permanent space—a destination the audience wants to return to, moving beyond fleeting content and building genuine, lasting cultural moments.
Ultimately, the lesson for artists, managers, and brands is to stop importing content strategies designed for someone else’s room. Instead, focus on building on the authentic relationship that is already forming. Whether that means creating a temporary, exclusive experience or building a permanent home for the audience, the focus shifts from maximizing reach to maximizing meaning.
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